Device for applying materials to the area of the eye

ABSTRACT

A device to be used for applying materials to the area of the eye which comprises an applying means for applying materials to the area and a mirror so that the user can see his eye reflected therein during the applying process.

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,779,245

Windsor 1451 Dec. 18, 1973 [5 1 DEVICE FOR APPLYING MATERIALS T02,736,316 2/1956 Stovall 128/233 THE AREA OF THE EYE 3.640.274 2/1972Costello 128/173 3.506.001 4/1970 Costello 128/173 PrimaryExaminer-Richard A. Gaudet Assistant Examiner-J. Yasko Att0rneyArthur H.Seidel et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A device to be used for applying materials to the area ofthe eye which comprises an applying means for applying materials to thearea and a mirror so that the user can see his eye reflected thereinduring the applying process.

3 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENIEU nu: 18 ms FIG. 8

DEVICE FOR APPLYING MATERIALS TO THE AREA OF THE EYE This inventionrelates to an applying device and more particularly to a device forapplying the materials to the area of the eye.

Many people have a substantial amount of difficulty in applyingmaterials to the eye or to the region of the eye. These persons find itvery difficult to apply drops to their eyes or to remove or placecontact lenses therein. This is because the eye has a natural tendencyto blink or close as a foreign object approaches. A similar'problem isencountered in the application of cosmetics such as eye liner, mascaraand the like.

It is believed that the eye finds the approach of objects to beoffensive because of its inability to focus on them.

The disadvantages outlined above have been overcome by the presentinvention. Thus, the present invention relates to a device to be usedfor applying materials to the area of the eye which comprises applyingmeans, and a mirror supported by the device in spaced relation from theapplying means and in generally facing relation thereto. When applyingmaterials to the eye or the area surrounding the eye, the user merelyfocuses on his own eye as reflected in the mirror. This obviates alldesire for blinking or closing the eye so that the material can beapplied as desired.

The invention can best be described by referring to the drawing andfollowing specification where a number of embodiments thereof areillustrated. However, it should be understood that these embodiments aremerely exemplary and the invention should not be limited thereby.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an eye dropper constructed in accordancewith one form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the eye dropper illustrated in FIG. 1with portions thereof broken away to show its construction.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the eye dropper illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing of the eye dropper illustrated in FIG. 1as used.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of still another embodi ment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 7.

Now referring to the drawing for a detailed description of theinvention, an applying device 10 is illustrated in FIG. 1. In thisembodiment of the invention, the applying device may be an eye dropperor other container which comprises a resilient peripheral side wall 12and an end wall 13. The outer surface of the wall 12 functions as agripping surface. The container is closed at its lower end and has anoutlet 14 at its upper end which is capable of dispensing material indrop form. The outlet 14 may be closed by a suitable cap 16 when thecontainer is not being used.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, a laterally extending ledge 18 or othersuitable supporting surface having an outer edge 19 which issubstantially coextensive with the end wall 13 may be formed in the sidewall of the container intermediate end wall 13 and opening 14. A

portion of the peripheral side wall extends between the outer edge andthe end wall 13. The ledge supports a mirror 20 which has its reflectivesurface turned in generally facing relation to the outlet 14.Preferably, the ledge is in spaced relation from the outlet 14 and themirror is concave so that focusing is achieved when the eye is close tothe outlet 14. This assures that drops which are dispensed from thecontainer will fall directly into the eye.

In FIG. 5, a device for applying a cosmetic to the area of the eye 24 isillustrated. It comprises a handle 26 having a surface 28 which definesa support for a mirror 30. An elongated member 32 is supported at oneend by surface 28 adjacent the periphery of mirror 30. At its free end,it supports a suitable cosmetic applying device 34. In the embodimentshown, the applying device is a brush. A step 38 is formed in theperiphery of the handle 26 so that the handle may be received in ahollow cosmetic container 40. Thus, when assembled, the elongated member32 and the cosmetic applying device 34 are in the container andprotected from damage.

The mirror 30 may be planar. However, it is preferred that it be concaveand have a focus such that the eye will be in focus when the brush istouching the eye.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 6, the applyingdevice 44 is virtually identical to the embodiment illustrated in FIG.5. However, this embodiment is particularly usable for applying andremoving contact lenses since it has a suction cup 46 at the end ofelongated member 48.

In this regard, the mirror 50 is preferably concave and the container 52has suitable means therein for supporting the contact lenses when not inuse.

As is well known, sufficient adherence of a contact lens to cup 46 willbe achieved by merely moistening the cup.

The applying device 56 shown in FIG. 7 is similar to that shown in FIG.6. However, in this embodiment, the suction cup 58 is surrounded by anannulus 60 having a plurality of apertures 62 therein (FIG. 8). In thisembodiment, a reservoir is formed on the interior of handle 64 and itswalls are made ofa resilient material. The elongated member 66 which ishollow forms a conduit connecting the reservoir within handle 64 to theannulus 60. Container 68 may be used to store contact lenses in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the embodiment of FIG. 6.Thus, with the device shown in FIG. 7, medication can be dropped intothe eye after the contact lens has been removed. Then, the lens can bereplaced thereafter. It can be done in a simple operation with themirror 70 obviating the tendency of the eye to blink. As explainedabove, the mirror 70 may be planar. However, it is preferred that it beconcave with its focus located a sufficient distance away from itssurface to permit proper positioning of the suction cup 58 and annulus56.

While the invention has been described with reference to a number ofembodiments thereof, it is apparent that many other forms andembodiments be obvious to those skilled in the art in view of theforegoing description. Thus, the scope of the invention should not belimited by that description but rather, only by the scope of the claimsappended hereto.

I claim:

1. A device to be used for applying materials to the eye comprising, acontainer, said container comprising the concavity of said mirrorcooperating with the distance between said mirror and said opening sothat when the eye is focused in the mirror, the material will enter itwhen dispensed from said container.

2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said walls comprise outersurfaces, and said outer surfaces define means for gripping saidcontainer.

3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein said walls are resilient.

1. A device to be used for applying materials to the eye comprising, acontainer, said container comprising means defining side walls and anend wall, said side walls defining an opening at the end of saidcontainer remote from said end wall for dispensing the material, alaterally extending ledge formed by said walls, said ledge beingdisposed intermediate said end wall and said opening, said ledge havingan outer edge, said end wall being substantially coextensive with saidouter edge and a portion of said walls extends therebetween, a mirrorsupported on said ledge in generally facing relation to said opening,said mirror being concave, and the concavity of said mirror cooperatingwith the distance between said mirror and said opening so that when theeye is focused in the mirror, the material will enter it when dispensedfrom Said container.
 2. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein saidwalls comprise outer surfaces, and said outer surfaces define means forgripping said container.
 3. A device as defined in claim 1 wherein saidwalls are resilient.